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Fall 2017 Winter 2002
How Pivotal Experiences Change Us and Our Careers
In business, it’s often about the numbers. At BYU Marriott School of Business, however, the bottom line adds up to a lot more than simply profits minus losses.
I feel a deep sense of gratitude for Brigham Young University and its noble purpose. It has been at the very root of my conversion to the gospel and has laid the foundation for my private happiness and my professional progress.
The promised powers of incorporating data into decision-making read like an advertisement: Make decisions better, faster, and more accurately! Minimize uncertainty and maximize returns! Gain agility and accountability! Facilitate innovation and disruption in all the right ways!
Learning has never been so entertaining— or so cheap. Whether you’re one of the 67 million Americans who listen to podcasts regularly or are just now tuning in, sorting the many subscription options can be overwhelming.
Remember that bad acquisition? The one who couldn’t handle the office environment and left all dried up in the middle of busy season? Or that great candidate who needed a lot of attention but really brightened up the place? Acquiring the right office plant has a lot more to do with fit than with the color of your thumb. To cultivate a mutually beneficial working relationship, scan the résumés of these office plants for a skill set that aligns with your organization’s goals.
Jackson, Wyoming—the gateway to the grand Tetons—is almost always bustling. Snow-capped peaks and expansive horizons draw crowds to this tiny outpost in the American west.
Reducing the compensation of a CEO by half is not an easy decision. But for board members with shareholders to consider, tough decisions like these are sometimes necessary.
The stories I have chosen to tell are not easy for me to share. These are not my proudest moments, and I usually prefer to wear my confident, professional persona for public consumption.
It’s the new adage of the marketing world: the secret to happiness is spending money on experiences, not things. While the desire for the latest gizmo has long fueled a culture of consumption, lasting memories can make a business a winning one.
You pull up to seven Gs in a bobsled seven times earth's gravitational pull. It's tough sledding. Fraser Bullock knows that from his experience on the bobsled track at Utah's Olympic Park. He had just signed on as CFO and COO of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee and wanted to understand what it was like to be an Olympic athlete. "I looked in the sled and there were chains, apparently to keep people from climbing out halfway down," he laughs. Bullock quickly discovered why someone might want to climb out. "It was like a monster roller coaster ride times ten," he continues. "And when you get to the bottom, you realize that the difference between gold and silver is one one-hundredth of a second. The expertise of these athletes is mind boggling."
You are a very select group whose contributions in the years ahead will be monumental. I know many of those who will be your teachers and your mentors. You are not likely to understand tonight what a rare group they are.
It's an honor for me to be here today. Every time I get in an awesome situation like this I think of a story that took place several years ago when my family and I lived on the west coast. Our oldest boys, who were seven and eight at the time, decided to take a friend to church with them one Sunday. This young boy had never been to our Church before.
Ken Batson has been a CPA for thirty-two years getting up, eating breakfast, and heading to work. A partner at Sharp, Thunstrom, & Batson, a small accounting firm in La Mesa, California, Batson was complacent as a CPA. He'd heard the warnings about massive changes coming to his